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Friday, March 20, 2015

Family First Friday #10 2015--Sharing our beliefs

At our house today is the second day of March Madness!! Mwwwaaaahahahahahahah!! We love March Madness here at our house! Things are in full swing! Brackets are in, food is prepared, phone calls across the nation have been made (meaning our children in other states are participating :-), and basketball is on the television or the computer pretty much from 9a.m to 10p.m. It is a wonderful time!

It is also time for Parent-Teacher conferences for our elementary school. Our sixth grade teacher loves basketball as well. Her entire class fills out brackets and they watch the games and do math and other academic things with the process. She was explaining to her class that Shorty gets to stay home and does it all with the family. Then she asked if I would mind if she brought over 25 more kids to watch the games with us. It was all 'tongue in cheek' but if she thought she could get away with it, they would be here :-) It is nice to have support in the family activities that are different from the rest of the world!! One of our principals early on did not support our family activity. It was quite a struggle.

copyright: Karen Larsen photography

But what I wanted to talk about today was my other parent teacher conference. As we wound up our little interview, our fourth grade teacher expressed that teaching is getting more and more difficult for him each and every year. In his words, the more children who come through my classroom who don't have parents like yours do, it is just so difficult. I agreed with him wholeheartedly. My degree is in family science, and I know first hand some of the emotional, physical, and spiritual consequences of broken families.

I decided to share with him my philosophy and beliefs about same gender marriage. Specifically, I told him that it is really difficult for me to understand how we have all of these adults demanding 'their rights' to marry and love who they want to and saying that their choices have no consequences for others. That is a crock. Particularly, such adults, are completely ignoring the rights of children to have two parents of differing genders. Now, some of you may say that once we allow those adults those 'rights' we can stop the momentum of that movement there. Not so. Once you legally recognize those unions as marriages, it naturally follows to then give them all the rights and privileges associated with said unions, namely, children. But here is my big beef: Children have the RIGHT to two parents of differing genders. Mothers and fathers are inherently different. Gay activists know this, which is why they have chosen to have that kind of a lifestyle. They have made a conscious choice to sexually associate with a partner of their same gender, because they didn't want to have that relationship with the opposite gender. But to then place a child in those 'families' or unions tramples then on the rights of the child. We have taken a voiceless part of our society and are claiming, without their consent or input, that it doesn't matter to them. We are violating the rights of the innocent and those who cannot stand up for themselves. That is wrong!! It is our job to protect those people. It is our job to stand up for their interests and their rights. That is what parenthood is about. That is why PTA was established, and what they are conveniently neglecting and side stepping at the moment. And that is what we as Americans profess to believe as we go through out the world helping to free oppressed people from tyrannical government and persecution. Yet here we stand demanding our right to do that to our own citizens, who have no voice, simply because they are not old enough to be legally recognized to assert their opinion. Completely wrong! Shame on us!! It is filth masquerading as virtue, and it is not OK with me.

Our teacher conquered. He said that he had never thought about it from that perspective.

So here I am, telling it to you. We have a responsibility to protect those of our citizens who, as yet, do not have the ability to stand for themselves. It is our job. I am willing to do that for my children and to share my opinion and beliefs with those who are like-minded. We need people who are articulate and educated who can explain the reasons why our beliefs are important and significant to us. As we do so, the truth of our position will resonate in the hearts of those who are seeking truth. Those who choose to persecute us for our beliefs? We can know they are playing for the other side, and as such, we can pay no heed to their hate speech. Lucifer has long used intimidation as a tactic to quiet virtue. It is time for us to rise up and be heard and counted as protecting those within our charge, the young and those who will be born. We must stand for the future and be willing to bear the persecutions of the world. After all, whose side are we on?

copyright: Karen Larsen photography

That is my rant for today. We can and should be kind to all people, regardless of their lifestyle choices or political opinions and beliefs. We demand our right to our opinion and we should protect their right to their opinion, even when we disagree with them. But we must not cower to intimidation. We must stand up and be counted--counted as standing on the right and moral side of the issue, even as we do so with meekness and grace.

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About Me

Mother of nine. Busy as a bee. Loving life, living, learning, enjoying the process. Each day is a new adventure which provides growth and development for all (our family motto)! So my time is spent helping my family accept and adjust to the new things they get to experience in mortality. Never a dull moment!

Quotes for my life:

"To do well does not mean everything will always turn out well. The key is to remember that faith and obedience are still the answers, even when things go wrong, perhaps especially when things go wrong."--David E. Sorensen, "Faith Is the Answer," Ensign, May 2005, 72

“The cultivation of Christlike qualities is a demanding and relentless task—it is not for the seasonal worker or for those who will not stretch themselves, again and again.”President Spencer Kimball, “Privileges and Responsibilities of Sisters,” Ensign, November 1978, 105

Mothers who Know

COURAGE...

Life's journey is not traveled on a freeway devoid of obstacles, pitfalls, and snares. Rather, it is a pathway marked by forks and turnings. Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed: the courage to say, 'No,' the courage to say, 'Yes.' Decisions do determine destiny. The call for courage comes constantly to each of us. It has ever been so, and so shall it ever be.--Thomas S. Monson, "The Call for Courage," Ensign, May 2004, 54

STRENGTH

“When[ever] I am tempted to feel that I have finished some hard task in the [Lord’s service] and deserve a rest, the Savior’s example gives me courage to press on. … When[ever] [I] remember Him, it becomes easier to resist the temptation to want a rest from [our] priesthood labors. We must have remembered Him today, and so we are here to [remember to] learn our duties, determined to do what we are covenanted to do, in all diligence. And because of His example we will endure to the end of the tasks He gives us in this life and be committed to do the will of His Father forever, as He was and is. This is the Lord’s Church. He called us and trusted us even in the weaknesses He knew we had. He knew the trials we would face. … We can become ever more like Him.” Henry B. Eyring, “Act in All Diligence,” Ensign, May 2010, 60-63.

Motivation

"To reach a goal you have never before attained, you must do things you have never before done."--Richard G. Scott, "Finding the Way Back," Ensign, May 1990, 74

I have the feeling I will need this later

"The refiner's fire is real, and qualities of character and righteousness that are forged in the furnace of affliction perfect and purify us and prepare us to meet God." Elder Quentin L. Cook